In a significant technological development, VTB has launched an intelligent chat-bot designed to enhance the efficiency of customer service operations within its branches. This innovative solution leverages cutting-edge technologies such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and large language models (LLMs), enabling operators to provide faster and more accurate responses to customer inquiries.
According to Evgenia Katenina, product owner of chat-bots for the retail block at VTB, the project addresses a critical issue faced by customer service representatives: the complexities involved in retrieving information. “Our operatives deal with vast amounts of information including tariffs, regulations, and product conditions,” she explained. “The existing data was fragmented and difficult to navigate, which hampered our ability to serve customers efficiently.”
This challenge directly impacted the quality of customer service and operational efficiency, leading to longer wait times for clients and increased workloads for employees, which, in turn, raised the risk of errors. To tackle this problem, VTB recognized the need for a smarter solution capable of real-time data analysis and response generation.
The inspiration for the chat-bot emerged from analyzing feedback from operators and support services, which revealed that employees spent excessive amounts of time trying to locate regulatory information and product details. “The response time from our methodological support team could take hours,” Katenina noted. “Traditional solutions, like static knowledge bases, were inadequate to meet the demands of our rapidly changing environment.”
Consequently, VTB aimed not just to automate routine inquiries, but to completely rethink its customer service model. By introducing generative AI paired with RAG technology, the bank developed a system that serves as a digital assistant for operatives, ultimately helping them react more swiftly, accurately, and confidently in customer interactions.
The overarching goal of this initiative is to create a modern, technology-driven, and customer-centric banking experience. By equipping employees with reliable tools to engage with clients, VTB seeks to gain a competitive edge through the digitalization of internal processes. The implementation of this chat-bot aims to reduce the time it takes to find information, enhance customer satisfaction, and alleviate the burden on support staff.
In today's banking landscape, the customer experience is a vital competitive asset. Clients demand quick, accurate, and high-quality service, while employees require effective tools for optimal performance. However, in the face of intricate banking processes and extensive data, operators often face significant hurdles when accessing up-to-date information, potentially hindering service speed and customer satisfaction. “We aim to solve these issues holistically,” Katenina emphasizes. “Improving the customer experience is paramount; long wait times and inaccurate answers damage client trust, so our intelligent assistant ensures instant access to accurate information.”
Additionally, VTB's chat-bot not only aims to enhance customer satisfaction but also to improve employee productivity. “Our operators have to navigate diverse data sets, and manual data retrieval can be time-consuming and diminish productivity,” Katenina added. “This intelligent assistant alleviates the burden on our staff, allowing them to focus on their primary task: interacting with customers.” Furthermore, the use of advanced technologies permits VTB to automate not just tasks but also pinpoint key areas for process optimization.
The chat-bot relies on comprehensive sources of corporate knowledge, incorporating internal reference materials such as instructions, regulations, and normative documents, as well as product and service catalogs. All data processed by the chat-bot is structured and regularly updated, ensuring the system reflects changes in offerings and internal processes.
This ambitious project comprises several key components, including a platform accessible to department employees and a front-office application integrated with the chat-bot. The chat-bot serves as an intelligent search and generative module, extracting real-time data, converting information into machine-readable formats, and generating precise, contextually relevant responses for the banking staff.
What sets VTB's approach apart is the depth of AI integration within its operational processes. Rather than merely implementing an intelligent assistant, the bank is revolutionizing the customer interaction model. In this innovative framework, AI complements human capabilities, fostering synergy between machine learning and employee expertise. This approach significantly improves the quality of customer query handling, curtails service time, and minimizes employee strain, particularly in scalable business environments.
VTB's initial pilot of the chat-bot, which included around 3,000 employees, demonstrated its significant effectiveness, achieving a nine-fold reduction in information search time. The chat-bot boasts an impressive accuracy rate of 90%, outperforming traditional manual response rates of 70-80%. These improvements also translated into better working conditions for operators, who can dedicate more time to client interaction. Rapid access to accurate information boosts employee confidence in consultations, speeds up the onboarding of new hires, and enhances overall productivity.
Financially, the project is projected to yield substantial economic benefits. By the end of 2025, VTB expects the full deployment of the chat-bot across all branches to generate savings of 2.5 million rubles through reduced search time, fewer errors, and optimized workloads for employees. Furthermore, by 2030, anticipated savings could reach 17.5 million rubles, driven by further automation, lessening the workload on support staff, and expediting request handling.
However, a current accuracy rate of 90% reveals some room for improvement. Katenina acknowledges, “While a 10% error margin can be tolerated, achieving 90% accuracy is a significant advancement compared to human operatives, who typically provide correct answers only 70-80% of the time. Our chat-bot not only improves response speed but lowers processing times, a critical factor in enhancing customer service quality.”
As VTB progresses, they plan to implement the chat-bot across their entire network of branches by the end of 2025, with expectations for automation levels to rise from 70% to 90%, which will halve customer request processing times and decrease the workload on the methodological support service by up to 80%.
Ultimately, this project carries strategic importance for VTB, enhancing its competitiveness and establishing new service standards. The intelligent assistant radically reduces customer service times, bolsters customer trust, and supports retention efforts. Moreover, it standardizes responses, eliminating discrepancies and facilitating uniform service delivery. The presence of the chat-bot also streamlines staff training, enabling new employees to adapt more swiftly while fostering reduced stress levels among operators.
VTB's initiative signifies a pioneering shift in the financial sector, embodying a successful implementation of generative AI that not only automates processes but acts as a dynamic tool for personalizing customer interactions. As the technology develops, the project could serve as a catalyst within the industry, encouraging similar innovations across the finance landscape.
Looking ahead, VTB aims for hyper-personalizing customer service by integrating client data into the chat-bot's operational logic, enabling tailored solutions specific to users' needs. This advancement will enable the chat-bot to act not merely as a query responder but as a proactive digital advisor, optimizing interactions based on individual client profiles.
